Bloggers at The Washington Post’s On Faith site discuss whether the environmental crisis of the Gulf oil spill is also a moral crisis.

Today’s college students appear to be suffering from an empathy deficit, according to new research. No one cause is cited, but:

(The) study speculates that one likely contributor may be that “people simply might not have time to reach out to others and express empathy in a world filled with rampant technology revolving around personal needs and self expression.”

Gonzaga University Professor and U.S. Catholic blogger Patrick McCormick wonders whether the excommunication of Sister Margaret McBride and others at St. Joseph’s Catholic Hospital in Phoenix hurts the church more than helps it. The sister and others at the hospital allowed an abortion to save the life of the mother.

(I)t suggests that the bishop and the Vatican do not have clear, cogent, and persuasive answers to tough moral questions. That is not “good news.” It is a scandal.

Kirk O. Hanson, executive director of the Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, tells new graduates that entering the workforce in a recession is a test of ethics and courage. Several times he notes that bosses may tell new employees that fudging test results is standard operating procedure. His comments leave me wishing that Hanson had advised the folks on that Gulf oil rig.

2 Responses to Today in Goodness

The Catholic Church’s position on abortion is very clear; it is also, as this case makes clear, not a position that can remotely be called “pro-life” or moral. As I understand it, the woman was only 11 weeks pregnant; had she died, there is no way her fetus would have survived. Yet the church condemns the woman to die even though there is no way to save the fetus. As far as I’m concerned, that’s murder. The nun and other administrators clearly made the moral, pro-life choice.

As for the oil spill, I think it raises a number of interesting moral questions, the most obvious being the amount of risk to the environment and to workers posed by drilling (and other energy endeavors) balanced by the need for energy. But the moral question that interests me the most is the one presented by allegations that the various companies involved engaged in sloppy practices even though they were dealing with a very risky and difficult process. The greater the damage that can flow (pun intended) from failure to do things correctly, the greater the moral failing of cutting corners.

Boy, this blog definitely makes me think about my own reaction to the news of the day.

Asked if he is angry at BP, Obama said “You know, I am furious at this entire situation because this is an example where somebody didn’t think through the consequences of their actions. It’s imperiling not just a handful of people. This is imperiling an entire way of life and an entire region for potentially years.”